Flying high on Quidditch Pitch

Nathan Xavier

August 23, 2014 9:51 AM

Teppenpaw Try-Outs (Walk-ons very welcome!) by Nathan Xavier

Nathan looked down at the try-out list in his hand for about the millionth time, but there remained only one name on it. A millionth-and-one look didn't add any more either, and the millionth-and two look failed to reveal any names he'd missed on his earlier inspections as well. He was quite unsure what to do with exactly one Quidditch player for try-outs.

Still, here he was, at the Pitch on the designated Sunday afternoon he had arranged for Teppenpaw try-outs. Nathan had brought out an optimistic selection of school brooms so Liac would have several to choose from if he needed to borrow one. The number and range of sizes of the brooms indicated an element of hope that maybe the first year would bring some of his new friends with him so he wouldn't be all by himself as well as optimism that some of the older students might decide that they had a sudden and compelling desire to play Quidditch for the glory and honor of Teppenpaw.

It wasn't likely that he would need all twelve of the brooms, of course, but he could hope, right?

He greeted Liac when he arrived, and instructed the boy to select a broom and fly a couple of laps while they waited to see if anyone else would join as a walk-on. Sign-ups on the sheet were good for planning purposes, of course, but they were not required to join team and anyone could still show up.

He would give it fifteen minutes. Anyone who arrived without signing up would be asked for their name and desired position so he could add it to his too-short list (one million and three, and still just one name so far) and have them join Liac in doing laps.

Once the quarter hour mark had been reached he called the flier(s) back down.

"All right, so, obviously, this is a small turn-out and not enough to field a full team for our House." He'd known coming in that it was very unlikely they'd come out of this with a full team, of course, despite his optimism, so there were contingency plans in place. "We'll spend the rest of this try-out practice just doing some simple drills to work on your skills. After this, I'll go talk to the Deputy Headmistress, and possibly one of the Aladren or Pecari Captains to see if they need us to join their teams." He'd heard Pecari and Aladren had both signed up just enough for a whole team, while Crotalus was a bad off or worse than Teppenpaw. He thought the school would be able to get at least two teams playing this year anyway, and he thought neither of the main Quiditch Houses would mind having a Teppenpaw alternate if that was the only alternative to Liac being shut out of playing otherwise. "I will make every effort to make sure you will be able to play this year even if it's not as a standard Teppenpaw team."

As Liac had signed up for Chaser, he'd mostly planned his drills around that position. "Anyway, since we only have us, I'll get a broom, too, and we'll practice passing a Quaffle between us." This was going to go poorly, he was sure. He could fly - he was an adult wizard who lived alone (aside from Alice, his cat), so a broom was relatively easy mode of transportation that left him less disoriented than floo or portkey, though he generally preferred apparation whenever possible. But flying to get from Point A to Point B was vastly different than flying as part of a Quidditch game.

"All right, let's fly." He picked up the Quaffle from where he set it on the ground, a few feet away from where he'd been standing. He waited until the student(s) were in the air before passing the Quaffle. Once his hands were free, he picked up his own broom - a longer version than most of the school ones he'd brought out, as he'd been anticipating mostly younger and therefore shorter students, but not any fancier. If anything, it was a little poorer in quality.

He kicked off the ground and started flying upwards, leveling out around normal playing altitude before hesitantly taking his hands off his broom to attempt catching. "Go ahead and pass now!" he encouraged.

OOC: If, by some miracle, I get more than three or four people here, I may retroactively change Nathan's speech, but I'm working on the assumption that pickings are slim. Also . . . welcome to the Teppenpaw Quidditch team, you one (or few) brave soul(s). Quidditch rules can be found here if you want to check out some facts, advice, and FAQs about Quidditch writing. As always, nobody's perfect, so I don't expect you to be. Have fun, ask questions if you have any, and thank you for joining!

Subthreads:

Flying high by Liac Reinhart

For glory! by Marcus Crosby with Jake Manger

1 Nathan Xavier Teppenpaw Try-Outs (Walk-ons very welcome!) 28 Nathan Xavier 1 5

Liac Reinhart

August 31, 2014 5:05 AM

Flying high by Liac Reinhart

Liac walked lazily to the field with his hands in his pockets, wishing his cousin Tobi was going with him. Its not like he needed him to play, just that it would have made the tryouts that much more entertaining. Then again, Liac probably should have known better than to ask him to try-out, for in all the time they spent together, he had never seen Tobi have much of an interest in joining a Quiddtich team. However, Tobi, being who he was, did offer to play the part of spectator at the try-outs. It was a kind thought on his cousin’s part, but Liac knew he would only feel guilty if he dragged Tobi to watch a game he had no interest in, let alone a try-out.

So here he was, on the pitch alone- really alone. There didn’t seem to be many others on the field. He looked around wondering if he had gotten the time wrong and shown up too early, or worse- too late. Based on the greeting from his Head of House, this bleak turn out was the try-outs. Liac smiled politely at him, despite the fact that he felt very awkward. He figured this must be what it feels like to throw a party and have only one person show up. How embarrassing, for both of them.

“Well, this is a great turn out huh?” he said with a chuckle, trying to break the ice with the Professor before both of them got devoured by uncomfortable atmosphere. Once instructed, he picked out a sturdy broom from the pile, and took off to the skies. However, looking down on the practice from above only made it look that much more pitiful. He did hope others would show up, but if no one did he would just have to make the best of it. Besides its not like you needed an entire team to enjoy a sport.

For the duration of the 15 minutes Liac flew around, not taking the drill especially seriously, but instead trying to get a feeling for the pitch. Back in Boston, Liac lived in a heavily muggle occupied area, so he didn’t get the chance to play in professional pitches too often. Even if it wasn’t as big as professional stadiums, to him it was like practicing baseball in Fenway Park. For a moment, Liac let his imagination take him away from the try-outs, away from Sonora, and imagined he was a professional quidditch player- no a star quidditch player! Any wizard who never imagined going pro was a liar, everyone did at some point, even if it was only once or twice. He lifted one hand up and waved to his imaginary fans seated in the stands, giving them a cheeky smile. Wanting to give them a show, he did one quick sweep around the pitch, so they could all get a good look at their hero. He didn’t keep up his imaginary scene too long, just in case the professor got mad, and quickly returned to his leisurely speed. Honestly, getting on the team really didn’t matter that much to him, if he could just play a scrimmage out here at least once this year that would be enough for him.

0 Liac Reinhart Flying high 288 Liac Reinhart 0 5

Marcus Crosby

August 31, 2014 7:43 PM

For glory! by Marcus Crosby

Earlier in Marcus’s career at Sonora, he had played on the Teppenpaw Quidditch team. He had not intended to, but when he passed by the tryouts by chance and noticed a small number of participants, he had felt that it was only his duty to join his Housemates on the Pitch. Somewhere along the road, he had gotten pretty tired of the game, being not as competitive when it came to sports as others tended to be. Marcus enjoyed games; the fun for him was not in winning but in the game itself.

He had felt bad about it, but eventually stopped playing. However, as he strolled through the Common Room, his grey eyes happened to fall upon the bulletin board. He liked to keep tabs, when he could, on how his old team was doing. (Although as a seventh year, all the players before him that he had known would be gone.)

To his surprise, there was only one name on the list. Well, that certainly would not do! Once again, the blond knew it was up to him! He took it upon himself to rescue the team. Of course, two players was hardly much better than one, but nonetheless, he would try! Maybe if he had this mentality, others might as well. It was for unity and loyalty: for Teppenpaw!

But there was not a lot of time to gather members; according to the signup, tryouts were… tomorrow! Oh, jeez! Well, Marcus instantly set his mind to work, trying to figure who could he coerce into joining. He didn’t have a lot of friends, really; there was his beloved Melanie, but as a purebred lady, he was pretty sure she would not want to play. He did know one Teppenpaw boy quite well, though: his cousin Jake.

Marcus decided not to bother signing his name (or Jake’s) on the list because he was not really sure if it would be checked again before the tryouts, but on the following day, after convincing Jake to come along, he merrily jogged onto the Pitch, his old broom in hand. He just hoped he wouldn’t be too rusty.

They arrived just as the tryouts were scheduled to begin. The seventeen year old waved happily to their Head of House, and to the kid he assumed was Liac, the only person to actually sign up. “Hi,” he greeted. “I’m Marcus Crosby. This is my cousin, Jake Manger. We’d like to tryout, please.”

“I played a few years back, and I was a Chaser then, so I guess I’d like to do that now,” he added. “Jake’s never played much before, but he’s small and nimble, so I thought he might make a good Seeker. I hope you don’t mind we didn’t actually sign up. We only decided to play as of yesterday.”

Upon instruction, Marcus took to the air, zooming about with as much ease as if he had never paused from gameplay. He was certainly not the best athlete, but he always, always tried, and as far as he was concerned, that was what mattered.

12 Marcus Crosby For glory! 225 Marcus Crosby 0 5

Jake Manger

August 31, 2014 7:44 PM

For.... yeah, no. Marcus made me come. by Jake Manger

“I’m Marcus Crosby. This is my cousin, Jake Manger.” Jake was not entirely sure how he got dragged into this. He was a small boy, not terribly athletic, and inexperienced in the game. He’d only ever played casual pick-up games with his brother and some of their childhood friends. Somehow, Marcus had convinced him to come along, spewing something about “the glory of Teppenpaw” and how they were “obligated to do our best in the name of our House”. Apparently, Marcus had gotten really convincing over the years. Jake probably needed to start paying better attention and looking out for him.

As Marcus talked (and talked), the second year picked out a broom to borrow from the stack their Head of House had lying out. Unlike his older cousin, he did not have his own since he had never really held any inclination to play for the school. Jake had nothing against the sport--in fact he found it rather enjoyable, what little he had played--but was not head-over-heels in love with it either.

Jake just wished he had more of an ability to say no. But he was too nice, he guessed, and so he was here. At least it would be something to do; he would not be bored if he had practice or games to attend. Sigh. Maybe Marcus knew what he was doing after all.

The dark-haired boy did as he was told to do, flying and whatnot as best he could. It took him a few minutes to adjust to the air, since he had not been on a broom too many times. But once he was adjusted, he found himself a surprisingly talented flier. His hands were a bit slow and clumsy, but Jake felt that with time, he could honestly make a pretty decent athlete. Surely if the player numbers could get there, the team could be pretty great.

12 Jake Manger For.... yeah, no. Marcus made me come. 280 Jake Manger 0 5